Free
"Free" is the 87th episode of Desperate Housewives, as well as its 4th season finale. Plot 'Previously on ''Desperate Housewives TBA '''Teaser We see the back of Katherine's head as she stares at the cirular symbol at the Fairview police station. Katherine turns around so that she faces us, she looks sad and thinks back. We a treated to Katherine's flashback and we see her sitting in the police station with bruises and various injuries around her face. A police woman offers her a cup of water and Katherine thanks her as she accepts it. The police woman sits next to her to discuss why she is there. "So, I take it this isn't the first time your husband's hit you?" she asks Katherine who shakes her head, avoiding the police woman's gaze. She says that he keeps promising it'll stop but it just gets worse. She says she's afraid he will do something to her daughter. Katherine begins to well up and turns to the police woman, begging that she has to help her. The police woman asks if Katherine's ever reported him once before but the paperwork couldn't be found when she called. The police woman rifles through papers and realizes that Katherine's husband is Wayne Davis, one of their patrolmen. She turns to Katherine and asks her if she wants some advice, Katherine nods quickly and the police woman continues, "Your husband's got alot of friends around here. Of course you could press charges but... I can't guarentee that one of his friends won't lose the paperwork again." Katheine asks what she should do and the police woman tells her, "get as much money as you can lay your hands on. Grab your daughter... And run." Katherine looks forward, realizeing what she must do next. We see Katherine and Dylan walk up the porch of 4356 Wisteria Lane to a welcoming Aunt Lillian. Katherine gets to the porch with her suitcases and looks out at Wisteria Lane, believing it to be safe, as Lillian beckons her inside. Katherine goes inside the house and Lillian shuts the door behind them both. The flashback ceases. We see Katherine standing in front of the Police Department symbol again and hear the words, "Mrs. Mayfair." Katherine is suddenly pulled to attention and turns to the detective behind her, he introduces himself as Detective Romslow and he asks her if he may help her. Katherine is sitting in the police's office, sitting at the desk, and he paces around it, he asks her why she thinks that Dr. Mayfair was kidnapped as he sits down opposite her. He says that no one in the school parking lot heard or saw anything suspicious. She says, "That's because the man responsible for this, my ex, knows a little something about how to commit a crime." this is due to him being a cop. The detective asks his name and Katherine says he is called Wayne Davis. The detective sighs and smiles, she asks him, "What?" and he says that it's just that he knows Wayne, they hung out together and he's a hell of a golfer. Katherine tells him to believe her when she says that he wasn't a hell of a husband. He asks her if this is about some payback for an ancient domestic disbute. Katherine begs and says "Please, you have to do something, because once Wayne is done with Adam, he's going to come after me. And this time he's gonna kill me. I know it." They stare at each other with tension and he breaks it by leaning forward and saying he'll look into it. He asks her to fill out some paperwork. Katherine picks up the paperwork and stares at it, a thought occurs to her and she slams it back down on the desk. Katherine is now in her hosue, rushing about, frantic, with clothing and packing her bags. Dylan is confused as asks her to stop as she's not making any sense. Katherine tells her that they don't have time, Wayne is coming, he took Adam and they're next. Dyaln asks her why he would do that and, if they're in so much danger, why they're not calling the police. Katherine says that the police will not help and insists that Dylan go pack her bags so she can be gone before he gets there. Dylan yells for her to stop and pulls her aside from packing to talk face-to-face with her mother. She says she is not going anywhere until she gets some answers. "Why do I have to be afraid of my own father?" she asks. Katherine calms herself down and says, "Okay, I'll tell you." We hear Dylan cry "No!" after Katherine has told her everything and a close up of the stairs is visible. Soon Katherine is chasing Dylan down them, apologizing for her actions, saying she had no choice. Dylan pushes her over and runs out of the house, distraught, Katherine calls for her but not a stir in response. Katherine is sad and regretful on the stairs at the loss of Dyaln, she hangs her head shamefully. 'Act I' We see a bird's-eye view of the four ladies playing their weekly game of poker, Lynette begins to deal the deck of cards to Gaby, Susan and Bree in the latter's house. We see Bree, perfect as ever, rifling through her cards. We then see Susan, with new baby Maynard next to her with a blanket on her shoulder as she raises a chip. We see Lynette smile at her hand of cards and look up at the rest of the ladies. We see Gaby, loudly chewing her gum, as she throws in a chip. She tells Bree, who had obviously asked for it to be so, that she doesn't want Katherine to join in their game. Lynette says that she's with Gaby and that she always likes to give people the benefit of the doubt. Bree says that she doesn't, Lynette agrees but pretends that she did, she goes on to say that Katherine always seems like she's trying to keep them at arms-length. Susan agrees, saying that she's changed and isn't that fun anymore. Bree says that she doens't know what they're talking about as Katherine has all sorts of wonderful qualities. Gaby asks her to name one, noting that "aloof" and "unfun" have already been taken. Bree admits that she plays her cards close to the vest but suggests that maybe they could benefit from that kind of quiet dignity before calling Gaby out on her loud gum-chewing. Gaby pops her gum loudly in her mouth. Lynette says that Bree can talk Katherine up all she wants but she is never going to be one of them. The door opening and closing is audible and the girls here Katherine call, "Anybody home?!" They stare at each other and Katherine walks in. bree greets her and notes that they were just talking about her, Susan weighs in with that it was random chit-chat, nothing specific. Katherine dismisses this quickly and asks Bree if she can talk to her for a minute, Bree stands up from her chair to talk to Katherine slightly aside from the girls. Bree asks what's going on and Katherine tells her that, despite it being last-minute, she is leaving town and won't be able to help cater Bob and Lee's commitment ceremony. Bree is shocked, saying that a hundred gay men will be descending and they will be expecting a fabulous party. Katherine apologizes and tells Bree that she would never bail on her if the situation didn't call for it. Bree, again, asks her what's going on but Katherine quickly tells her that she can't. She apologizes again and wishes Bree luck on the ceremony, she turns around and leaves, leaving Bree in the lurch. Bree turns to the girls who stare at her in an, 'I told you so' sort of way and Bree responds with, "Alright, you can all wipe those smug looks off your faces because every one of you has just become my employee." Gaby's gum pops loudly in her mouth again as they all stare at Bree. Julie is seen walking gleefully down the stairs in her house, cluthcing a piece of paper. She turns to Susan who has Maynard in the stroller and tells Julie some preparations that she will need help on for Bree's catering job. Julie merely stares at Susan with a smile plastered across her face, "What?" Susan asks, Julie tells her to guess who got off the wait list at Princeton, Susan is shocked and tells her daughter that she is so proud of her before the two embrace in a hug. Susan says that she has to get a bumper sticker right away so that she can start annoying all the other parents. Julie says she can start when she gets there on Tuesday, to which Susan replies, "Tuesday, what are you talking about?" Julie explains that the professor who read her senior thesus was so impressed that he asked her to come out and do a summer internship and that she leaves next week. "Next week?" Susan says, "That is a big... no." she says more bluntly. Julie says she has to as it's a huge honor, Susan agrees but says that the honor is to be chosen, which she was, so she congratualtes Julie and tells her she's staying home. Mike gets up from the chair and wonders why Susan isn't letting her go as it's a huge honor. Susan turns to him and says that they've established that before walking over to his side to face Julie who asks for one good reason as to why she can't go. Off the top of her head, Susan says that they can't afford it. Mike asks Susan if he can talk to her for a second, he pulls her aside and tells her that he just inherited five grand from Grandpa Maynard and that he'd really like to use it to help out Julie. Susan says that is so sweet before turning to Julie and telling her that Mike makes another good point - they don't know this proffessor and she certainly isn't leaving her daughter alone with him for the summer. Mike is confused with her lies and Susan apologizes to Julie and says that it is not happening. Julie says that it totally sucks and walks back up the stairs, Susan calls to her, "Well yes, but don't forget, it is a huge honor!" She turns to Mike who doesn't speak and just walks away. Lynette opens the door and enters her house and immediately begins talking. She makes her way over to Tom, who is packing a box on the coffee table, and says, "You know what we haven't done in a really long time? Make two hundred and fifty mini-pizzas in one afternoon." He asks her what she's talking about and Lynette explains that Bree's in a horrible jam and she said that they'd help out in catering the commitment ceremony tomorrow. Tom says he can't because he's busy as he's taking the boxes containing Kayla's things to her as she lives four and a half hours away now. She asks, at risk of cracking the egg-shells she's been walking on all week, if he thinks he'll stop being so angry any time soon. He says that he isn't angry at her and she professes that they had no choice, they had to get her out of the house. Tom yells, "I know! I am angry at the situation, will you please just let me be angry?!" She concedes and says that he can be as angry, and sulky, and pissy as he wants so long as he is there tomorrow helping her crank out the two hundred and fifty mini-pizzas. She begins to make her way to the stairs as Tom says that he's been told that when some wives ask their husbands to do them favors, they actually say please, before fleeing up the stairs, Lynette turns to him and says, "Oh Tom, don't you know and urban myth when you hear one?" Gaby walks into her house with a large box of things and says to Carlos, "Okay, here's the deal: Bree needs all these wedding favors wrapped by tomorrow and she's really counting on me. So, I'm gonna need you to hurry." She dumps the box on the table in front of Carlos who tells her that he just got off the phone with the credit card company and asks her if she has something that she wants to tell him. She says it would be easier if she knew what he knew. He tells her that she's maxed out every credit card that they own and that she has had enough shopping. He says that they are so broke it will be a miracle should they not end up on the street. She tells him that when he yells at her she gets upset which, in turn, causes her to shop and so notes that if they end up homeless it'll be his fault. he says, "Wahtever, I'm gonna go read porn... in braille." He gets up and leaves as gaby hears the phone ring, she rifles over her box to get to the source of the noise and picks up the phone. She answers with a "Hello" and then Ellie answers from the other line. Gaby says that she can't call her as the cops are all over her ass as they think she helped her escape. Ellie apologizes, saying that she just needs one more favor and then she'll never bother her again. Gaby asks her what it is and Ellie tells her that she left her teddy bear in the coat closet and she needs it to be brought to her. Gaby si confused as to why she needs a teddy bear and asks her if it's code for "a pound of blow", Ellie assures her that it's an actual teddy bear that was a gift from her father and is all she has to remember him by. Gaby says, "Crap, you had to play the daddy card." 'Act II' 'Act III' 'Act IV' 'Act V' 'Act VI' Trivia * The Solises' oldest child was named Juanita, after Carlos' deceased mother. *With this episode, all the main housewives of the show have had children: Susan had Julie and Maynard; Lynette had Preston, Porter, Parker and Penny, and stepdaughter Kayla; Bree had Andrew and Danielle, and grandson Benjamin, who posed as her son; Edie had Travers; Mary Alice had adopted son Zach; Katherine had her biological daughter and her adopted daughter, both named Dylan; Betty had Caleb and Matthew; and Gabrielle, after a miscarriage, a surrogacy that didn't take, and an adoption that went wrong, now has two daughters, Juanita and Celia. Even Mrs. McCluskey had a son that died at the age of twelve. *Brenda Strong (Mary Alice Young) is seen in this episode in a flashback. *Some events of this episode are very similar to the events of the season 1 finale, "One Wonderful Day": a hostage situation occurs, at the Sims house no less, and then someone comes over and knocks on the door. Only then Edie leaves at the end, whereas in this episode Bree is taken into the house. *In episode 2.13, "There's Something About A War", the famous fighting scene between Gabrielle and Sister Mary (the nun) occurs, with an interesting music featured in the background, which was made especially for that scene. In this episode, Gabrielle is shown in yet another fight scene, with the same music featured, only this time it was with Ellie over the bag of money. * The final minutes of the episode take place five years into the future, where season five picks up. This is the first time jump on Desperate Housewives to occur in the season finale. Previous time jumps occurred in the premiere episodes of season three (six months) and season four (one month). * This is the final episode of the series to credit Lyndsy Fonseca (Dylan Mayfair), Joy Lauren (Danielle Van de Kamp), Brent Kinsman (Preston Scavo), Shane Kinsman (Porter Scavo), Zane Huett (Parker Scavo) and Rachel Fox (Kayla Scavo) as regular cast members. *Although credited, Nicollette Sheridan (Edie Britt), Joy Lauren (Danielle Van de Kamp), Brent Kinsman (Preston Scavo), Shane Kinsman (Porter Scavo), Zane Huett (Parker Scavo) and Rachel Fox (Kayla Scavo) are absent from this episode. Quotes *'Carlos': I'm gonna go read porn... in Braille. ---- *'Mary Alice': (first poker voiceover) There's a ritual my friends have observed for years. Once a week, they meet to play a game of cards and talk about their lives. There's always laughter and wine and talk about the neighbors. (second poker voiceover five years later) There's a ritual my friends have observed for years. Once a week, they meet to play a game of cards and talk about their lives. Of course, there's another aspect to these gatherings that has nothing to do with gossip or poker. Every seven days, my friends are reminded of a basic human truth. There is nothing more important than friendships that endure, especially in a world that insists on changing. ---- *'Mary Alice': (voiceover) It had been 14 years since Katherine Mayfair had been in a police station but she remembered the conversation like it was yesterday. (scene of Katherine reporting the abuse of her policeman husband and being advised to run) And so she did to a place she thought would be safe. (scene of her returning to Wisteria Lane to live with her mother) Katherine Mayfair had been running from the truth for a long time and it had finally caught up with her. ---- *'Bree': Lynette, I wish I had time to be more tactful but I don't. Your swan is pathetic and I'm firing you from napkin duty. ---- *'Gabrielle': Come on, we're never gonna have kids. Shoes are my kids. Let me be the mother I was meant to be. ---- *'Bree': (to Orson) Don't you dare throw your calligraphy skills in my face when you know I'm at a low point. ---- *'Bree': Muddling through isn't going to cut it. The gays run the social scene in this town. If we screw this up, we'll be lucky to get a job catering Friday Fish Fry at the Elks Lodge. ---- *'Bob': (to Lee) Remember how you said I should tell you when you start acting like Faye Dunaway in the boardroom scene from "Mommie Dearest"? ---- *'Tom': If you're willing to break up over an ice sculpture, you guys should absolutely not get married. Because who gets to choose the ice sculpture, who should take out the trash, who has to stay home and make the mini pizzas, that's the little stuff. What are you going to do when the big stuff comes along? What are you gonna do when a tornado hits your house, or you have problems with your kids, or one of you gets cancer? At some point, the crap is going to hit the fan. And that is why now, before you make the commitment, you have to ask yourself: Is that person in bed next to you worth the trouble? Do you love him...or her so much that no disease, no disaster could possibly pull you apart? ---- *'Carlos': I got a theory as to why all this bad stuff has happened to us-my blindness and losing all our money-it's karma. We've been selfish and greedy and the Universe is telling us to be better people. *'Gabrielle': I just found $118,000 in Ellie's teddy bear. *'Carlos': Hey, Universe! Bite me! ---- *'Susan': I still have not figured out how I'm gonna get by without you. *'Julie': Mom... *'Susan': Seriously, I just lean on you in ways you don't even know. *'Julie': I think you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. *'Susan': Well, I spend more time with me than you do, and I'm a mess. *'Julie': Well, you were when dad left. I had my hands full then, but you've grown so much these last five years. *'Susan': Really? *'Julie': You're a secure, confident woman now. You're ready to spread your wings and fly. Frankly, my work here is done. ---- *'Tom': You're doomed. *'Lee': Excuse me? *'Tom': The way you just caved on that sculpture thing-you're setting the tone for your entire marriage. *'Lee': I am? *'Tom': Yeah, you gotta dig in your heels. Otherwise, you're going to be pushed around for -- let's see, how long have I been married? 10 and a half years. ---- *'Bob': We're sticking with the cherub and later, when he bitches about it, I'll just buy him some jewelry. *'Lynette': You sure you haven't been married before? ---- Category:Episodes Category:Season 4 Category:Flashback episodes Category:Season finale